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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

So here I was enjoying my walkies around the lake when I came across this sign on a gate - I wandered over to have a look and could hardly believe my eyes! They have a pier for dogs to jump off ???? What self respecting dog would WANT to jump off and actually get WET ????? Before Mom could get any crazy idea's I quickly looked off to the other side - I am sure there was something much more interesting OVER THERE on dry land.

In other news we will be needing the Power of the Paw next week and maybe a few prayers too. Mom is going to have surgery again. It's a BIG surgery and we are all a little scarred and worried - given what we went through last year. They will be sliding a muscle from each of her sides and pulling it together in the middle to reinforce her stomach. Currently she just has skin only over her stomach and that doesn't offer much protection for her insides and this is putting a lot of strain on the skin. That is why we have been doing such a lot of walking, to help Mom be strong for the surgery. So please don't worry if you don't see us around for the next couple of weeks - we will be busy helping Mom get better again but we will try to leave a few quick messages.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Mom says I had something done at the vets yesterday - I certainly don't wemember it and I am doing just fine this morning. So far I have been busy stealing - eeermmmm ....no 'finding' things from the laundry basket (Weilly taught me how to say things properly) I "found" some of Dad's shoe laces and can you believe it - I even "found" one of his shoes outside!!! Tee hee - it's a bit soggy because it wained last night. Weilly says it's the 'monsters' that do these things just to get us doggies into trouble! I was so hungry I gobbled up my breakfast this morning - then had a good game of bitey face with Weilly, then a good game of tug the wabbit, then we had a game of skitchum around the back garden and then I 'helped' Mom to get the morning paper - which mysteriously ended up with a shredded corner. Then we went to the park but Mom said we could only have a short walk as she doesn't want me "over doing it" - what ever that means. I am a puppy Mom!!! and puppies only have two speeds - fast and sleeping! Mom has also been trying to get a photo of my ears to show everyone -and she finally did it this morning. Do you notice the edges of my ears are turning black. Mom says it looks sooooo cute - aaaawwww Mom you are sooooo embarrassing ! Mom says because I have been such a big brave boy (I didn't ever throw up) that she is going to take me to the pet store and buy me a new toy. I have only had one new toy of my very own and I promptly took it outside and left it under the deck and we haven't seen it since! I like Weilly's the old toys - they are the best - they are all nicely chewed and smell good. I will probably take this new toy outside to 'season' it too. Mom says this will be an 'educational' toy to challenge me - we will see about that Mom! Okay, I am off to see what other mischief those 'monsters' have been in to because you just have to keep your eye on them ALL the time.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

The "THING" as I like to call him (otherwise known as Denny) - is in having his 'things' removed today. (He's being neutered and micro-chipped) We just checked on him and he is doing just fine, still a little groggy but otherwise did great. Mom was a little worried as the Denny is a little bit of a stressy dog (a lot if you ask me!) - he throws up as soon as he starts getting worried and shakes and trembles as soon as we get near the vets door. What a wuz!!!

In the meantime I have been enjoying some "Me and Mom" time. Dog oh dog - we went to the park again and she walked my butt off ------urm no I mean I walked her butt off ! Without the "THING" there to tangle the lead up every two minutes we did the entire lap on exactly one hour - Mom was pretty chuffed (me I was just pretty puffed!!!) Here I am catching my breath ------I mean sitting pretty while Mom takes a photo and then in the second one I was being silly - can you see the Reilly for the trees? - I thought I was pretty well hidden but Mom didn't seem to think so. I must admit I am really loving this fall weather and wish I could take you all on my walkies with me - though Mom would probably be a nervous wreck after a few minutes if we did :)

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

I barely have enough energy left to post today - we went for a full lap around the lake again today (2.4 miles which takes us an hour and a half). Mom says it would only be an hour if we didn't stop to check out the pee mail and leave some of our own!!! As if - MOM!!!! that is the BEST part of a walkies.

One of things we noticed today is what a few steps can make. The pictures below are all taken within feet of each other and yet look at the difference it can make - from being a greyish somber picture to a sparkling cool green. Mom only had the little camera with us today so they are not the greatest shots but you can see what we mean. Look at those silly ducks all lined up in a row on the log - then mom took the same pic from about 5 feet to the right and all the green shows up.

Mom wished she had her her big camera (the one with the telephoto lens) when we spotted this guy - we are not sure if it is a blue heron or blue stork - it seemed awfully big to be a heron. Either way, it looked so lonesome sitting there on a stump in the water, but then she moved about 10 feet to the left and got this shot with all the trees and the bird reflecting in the water. Remember you can click on the photo's to see them bigger.

And then all around the lakes edge we noticed these BIG fish - we are thinking they are probably catfish as they seemed to be feeding on the bottom. You can see how big it is by looking at the little fish around it - those were about 5" long ! They must be pretty clever old fish as we never see the fishermen catching them. The local park service keep this lake stocked with a variety of fish and we have seen some really good sized trout. We also had lots of people stopping to admire us today but I must admit I felt like biting some - they kept asking if the little one was HER puppy?? Do I look like a GIRL!!!!!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Dog oh Dog - we have been having so much fun since the cooler weather has arrived. This weekend Dad went with us and we went "off the beaten path" so as to say. We went to our park that has the walkway in the tree tops, but we followed a path leading off to one side. It was hard work let me tell you - up hill most the way, but look what we discovered when we got to the top - this pawsome lookout and YES - we ALL climbed to the top to see the view (well the Denny had to be carried up -the little wooz has this thing about going up things - but he came down all by himself!) As you can see it was pretty overcast - but that made it perfect for walking. Mom is doing much better and her bruises are just now shades of green/purple and blue but they don't hurt and she was fine doing all this adventuring.

Now you are probably all wondering about "IT" - and so are we kind of. We haven't really heard anything about how "IT" is doing but we do know his Mom was very happy to see him again. Personally, I can't see why - "IT" was just an "IT" after all. I am sure that given a few days to get used to his new surrounding "IT" will be back into mischief in no time. We did hear that his Mom has already bought him a Halloween costume to wear - gawoof gawoof !!!! Ah the life of a pampered apartment dog! We have lots more cool pics to share - but they can wait for another day, I am off for a well earned nap.

Friday, September 16, 2011

For some reason I have taken a real dislike to the squirrels in MY park. There are always fighting amongst themselves and making weird noises so when I saw them the other day - I was off so quickly I pulled the Mom right off her feet and she went SPLAT on the ground. Luckily we were under some pine trees at the time and there was a thick layer of pine needles but she was still pretty shaken and her hands and knees are all bruised (which is why we haven't been doing the rounds and saying hello to you all - she ALWAYS supervises what I type and hasn't been up to it the last few days). As some of you know my Mom spent A LOT of time in hospital last year and one of the side affects of not being able to eat for nearly a year is that her body pulled calcium from her bones - leaving her now with severe osteoporosis (brittle bones) so any kind of fall could REALLY hurt my Mom and we have to be VERY careful. Normally I walk along so quietly with Mom, not taking any notice of what is happening around - but those pesky squirrels - something about them just makes me go crazy. Hopefully we can get around to all your bloggies in the next day or two and see what everyone has been doing.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Like so many Mom and Dad's out there - my Mom is always on the quest for the 'perfect picture' and as you are all frustratingly aware it is never easy - especially when you have more then one dog. So again Mom takes dozens of picture in the hopes of getting just one that was right.

In the first one, Denny was being silly and I just closed my eyes at his antics. In the second one I was looking at Mom - Denny was watching an ant ! But finally you think - look at photo's 3 and 4 - are they not perfect?????

Well actually.......they were after Mom photo-shopped in my open eyes. In both of these shots I really had my eyes closed. Mom took the eyes from photo 2 and pasted them in to photo's 3 and 4! ****THAT IS CHEATING MOM !**** Mom says she had to, she just loved us with our crossed paws (ewwwww puppy cooties - I am going to have to disinfect my leg!) So NO the REAL perfect picture is still eluding her - but no doubt she will keep trying and no doubt so will we - trying her patience that is - gawoof gawoof! PSSSSS it took Mom 43 photos to get these 4 - and she says it's our fault! We know a bad camera-mom when we see one :)

Monday, September 12, 2011

We are so proud of our Mom! Today we did the FULL 2.4 miles lap around the lake !!!! Considering Mom could barely walk when we moved to Arkansas and she has no stomach muscles and her back is all messed up - this was a HUGE achievement for her. Of coarse we 'boys' just took in our stride !!! SSShhhhhh - Don't tell Mom but my dogness are we ever tired!!

We followed the "chit-chat" walk right around the lakes edge - which we have renamed the Reilly and Denny Walk (see the light blue) Yes !!! even the little guy did it !!!! It is 80% under the trees so was nice and cool and yes I did stop every now again (pretending to sniff) just so Mom and "THING" could have a little rest.

At the moment the park people are "trying" to prevent the Canadian geese from stopping. They have been making such a mess and even attacking people so now they are using these loud gun things to scare them away. You can see how well it is working !!! Of coarse it did scare the be-gee-bees out of the "THING" (okay Mom) the Denny - well actually it scared the breakfast right out of him. They set it off twice fairly close to us and it frightened him so much he threw up his breakfast ! What a wooz!!! Do you see the goose in this first picture - it has the body colorings of the Canadian goose but a white head. And in the second photo - there is a pair of white geese with their babies.

Then Mom took a couple of "scenery shots" just because she thought they looked pretty. I am like "Mom - who cares about pretty - they want to see me and hear about all the great smells." Of coarse with all the sniffing going on - the only shots she could get were of our butts - gawoof gawoof.

We are not sure - but we also thought we saw a beaver amongst all these tree roots in water. There are some mighty big catfish in this lake that tend to splash around a lot but what we saw actually jumped off the log into the water and unless some silly old cat fish was sun bathing we think it might of been an elusive beaver. We also noticed a couple of trees that had been freshly "chomped". We are going to check into this some more. And finally - check it out everyone - FALL colors already!!!! And FALL means cooler weather and cooler weather means MORE walks. Gotta love that! Oh and I got to chase a squirrel - dag-nabbit just one more foot of lead and I would have had it - so close !!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Ten years ago on September 9th my Mom left Australia - flying 16 hours straight to come and be with my Dad. He met her in San Francisco and because of the time zone difference she arrived on September 9th. Dad and she spent the next day in San Francisco enjoying the sights and just being happy to be together again. (Dad had been to Australia previously) On the evening of September 10th they flew to Detroit where my Dad was working. Mom was still a little jet lagged and slept in the next morning. She woke about 10.30 on September 11 and turned on the TV while she ironed some clothes to wear. What happened next is something we ALL remember.

For Mom and Dad it was very bitter/sweet in the weeks following. They had so many plans, things they wanted to see and do, things they wanted to enjoy and yet part of them felt guilty. While on one hand they were so happy to be together, they also felt so sad at what had happened. Dad being Military wonder if he would get called back, what he could do to help and what he would do about Mom. They thought constantly about all the people who lost their lives, all the people whose lives were changed forever that day and for the AMAZING hero's who found the strength to battle all the odds to save and rescue people. Mom thought about all the children who would missing a parent, a grandparent or a brother or sister. She thought about all the wives and husbands who would be missing the loves of their life - knowing they would never get to hug them one more time - or whisper those words "I love you" to them. Mom hung her head in quiet reflection every day for the following month - just a few minutes - praying for those who were so sad and in pain and giving thanks for the small bit of happiness she and Dad we able to have.

So today like EVERYONE - we remember - all the heroes of that day - including the wonderful 4 footed ones - you will NEVER EVER be forgotten.

This is a sad video to watch - but please do as out of 300 doggies that helped that day - there are now only 12 left alive. If you are wondering why so few - it is simply because many of the dogs were already 4 years and older at the time and sadly we know our wonderful companions do not live as long as we do. Big hugs and woofitty woofs to everyone today. Sorry for the loud commercial at the beginning, once you get past that it is truly beautiful.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Mom took us to the lake today - she was feeling a bit sad about the "IT" leaving (personally I don't know why????) but I wasn't going to grumble because it meant we got to have a nice long and quiet walk. Mom said couldn't help thinking about Dawn and Katie today and how much they would both love to go on a walk like this. So this little video is for you and anyone else who just needs to take a break, breath in some fresh air and enjoy a little bit of nature. It was a little windy so the video is a little noisy and the 7 year circada's are out and they are VERY noisy - we will be glad when they depart for another 7 years :) But there is also some nice birdies chirping in the back ground and it is pretty by the lake.

Today I am leaving to go to kneebraska. I decided my Mommy would miss me to much if I stayed and she has been telling me about this place called a "leash free park" that Weilly use to go to when he lived there. They also have LOTS of pets stores we can go and visit and lots of parks too. We had a wonderful day yesterday - we went to lake and I got to sniff around for such a long time and I was one happy and tired boy by time we got home. I am still going to miss Weilly and Denny but Arkansas Mom says "life is an adventure - and we have to grab it with all paws so we don't miss out on anything" So that is what I am going to do! Hopefully Mommy will get my blog up and working again and you can see what I am doing in kneebraska. Lots of love, snuggles and slobbers - Jackie.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

I am sneaking on Weilly's blog to ask for your help. I am starting a petition to save ME ! I don't wanna go to kneebraska and live in a pokey little apartment. There won't be any big garden for me to run in, no Denny to play with, no deck for me sit on and sun myself and no exercise machine where I practice my looking 'cute' routine. I know my real Mommy is there and she loves and misses me......but there won't be any Arkansas Mommy there to feed me my duck treats and pick up all my toys at the end of the day. And what about my most favorite sleeping place - under Arkansas Mom and Dad's bed --on my (the) doggie bed I found hiding under there.

And you know - I am sure Weilly almost likes me now - he sometimes let's me sit near him, he likes to use me as a pillow, he will share his bones with me - after he's eaten all the good bits off it, he lets me clean up his empty food bowl and he doesn't step on me anymore (at least not as often) and he doesn't growl at me anymore.........doesn't that prove he likes me????And I don't like the cold - and Arkansas Mommy says it gets very cold in kneebraska and they have LOTS of snow. My leggies are only 4 inches long - how am going to cope trying to pee in a foot of snow I ask? Please please please sign my petition (just by saying you agree with it) so I can stay where I am - whimper whimper whimper !!! But do it QUICK ! Time is running out for me !!!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

I always knew I was 'royalty' and see this proves it !! I have my very own castle. Sure it was at the park - but I am positive it was built just me - doesn't it looks like it fits me perfectly???? I think Mom should move this to my backyard and then I could climb to the top and survey my kingdom. Not to be outdone the 'youngster' tried to show off by climbing the Matterhorn. It was pretty high but the fearless little 'honey badger' thought it was great fun. (Dad was also stood just to one side to make sure he didn't fall) "IT" was too busy off sniffing to want his photo taken with anything interesting and being the 'psycho dog he is - he wouldn't of stopped still long enough for a photo anyway.

The Cowspotdogs

Hi, I am Reilly the Original Cowspotdog (with the black head) and Denny is my Cowspotdog Dweeb brother. Denny and I are both color headed white shelties. We are registered with the AKC and love meeting new friends.